Historic Route 66 icon Bono's restaurant needed to move 20 feet so that traffic intersection improvements could be made at the intersection of Foothill Blvd (old US Rte 66) and Sultana Street in Fontana CA.
From the Fontana Daily Bulletin: (
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"Bono's Restaurant and Deli in Fontana gets OK to move
By Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
POSTED: 08/02/13, 12:01 AM PDT
FONTANA -- The historic Bono's Restaurant and Deli can be moved about 20 feet away from Foothill Boulevard.
The state Historical Resources Commission in its consent calendar gave the approval on Friday, said Jay Correia, a spokesman for the nine-member commission.
Joseph Bono, 81, who owns the currently closed restaurant at 15395 E. Foothill Blvd., said he was unaware of the approval until a reporter called him.
He declined to comment further, other than to say, "Let me talk with my team."
Bono said on Thursday he did not want to move the restaurant or the Big Orange, which his family had possessed since 1936.
The Big Orange is a 7-foot-high orange stucco ball, from which people used to purchase freshly squeezed orange juice.
Matt Englhard, vice president of development and construction for Alere Property Group LLC, said on Thursday Bono had signed an agreement to move the property which is very close to the intersection of Foothill and Sultana Avenue.
In response to an email and a phone call, Englhard wrote back Friday afternoon asking for specific questions about the decision but did not return correspondence late Friday.
Correia said Bono would have about 45 days from Friday to make an objection to the decision but it would be "unprecedented" because Bono's name was on the request as wanting to move the property.
"This is only the second time I've dealt with a request to move (property)," Correia said. "It's very odd. It looks like the (request to move) is coming from him. "
Additionally, Correia said that part of the process involved in getting approval for moving the building is submitting photos of the building at the new location.
"We want a record of the building as it is currently," Correia said."
As of 9 Mar 2016 the owner Joe Bono told us the building WAS moved, and although the restaurant was closed and the parking lot was being used as a swap meet, he wanted to reopen it as soon as he could get some new cooking equipment.